Golf clubs of various types and designs are readily available on the market today. A number of the available golf clubs are specially designed for use in putting a golf ball along a substantially smooth grass portion of a golf course. Owing to the fact that putting often accounts for nearly half of a golfer's total strokes over an average course, such specialized clubs are of particular importance to dedicated golfers.
While a substantial number of golf club putters (putters hereinafter) are available, they typically embrace modifies forms of a design common to non-putter type golf clubs, i.e., they are intended to be swung in an arc substantially across and inclined to the front of the golfer's body. This conventional style of swing imparts a great deal of energy to the ball, owing to the distance the golf club head travels along the arc of the swing, and is advantageous when it is desired to drive the ball a great distance through the air.
In order to accomplish the conventional golf swing, the golfer stands facing the ball, with the cup located at an approximate 90 degree angle from the direction in which the golfer is facing. Taking this stance, the golfer must choose between looking at the ball, the terrain over which the ball is intended to travel, or the cup. In no manner can the golfer obtain a line-of-sight that includes both the ball and the cup while occupied with this stance. Nevertheless, this stance and approach is advantageous when attempting very long putts owing to the large amount of energy imparted to the ball. However, the vast majority of putts attempted are of relatively short distance, and require accuracy rather than brute force. For this majority of putts, the conventional stance offers serious difficulties, and the long backstroke and follow through provided are of no particular benefit.
As mentioned above, the golfer cannot establish a line-of-sight from the ball to the cup while facing 90 degrees from the cup. When using the conventional stance, most golfers stand behind the ball to establish such a line-of-sight, then loose the effect upon approaching the ball. It has been found advantageous in many other sports to continuously maintain such a direct line-of-sight. For example, it is generally conceded that the jump shot has greatly contributed to modern basketball field-goal percentages. The jump shot is especially effective because the shooter jumps directly toward the basket when he releases the ball. His hand and arm, the ball, and the basket are all along a line or arc extending directly in front of the shooter. This is in contrast to the low percentage hook shot attempted at approximately a 90 degree angle from the front of the shooter's body. Likewise, in baseball, fielders are instructed to position themselves directly in front of a ground ball, allowing them to follow the ball straight into the glove, and greatly reducing the chance of error. Similar logic is believed applicable to putting, where the chance of error can be greatly reduced, and the percentage of completed putts increased, by keeping the ball in front of the golfer along a line-of-sight to the cup.
Croquet style putters have been proposed in the past, which partially recognize the advantage of maintaining such a line-of-sight. However, these clubs also exhibit significant disadvantages. For example, the United States Golf Association rules require that a golfer have both feet on one side of a line extending from the ball to the cup. This rule effectively prohibits swinging a croquet style putter between the legs. Also, the existing croquet style putters are not configured for use with a conventional swing, and so are limited to use in short distance putting. Since a golfer is likely to encounter situations requiring both long and short putts during the course of a game, such putters constitute an additional club to be carried along with a conventional putter.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems as set forth above.